Steele: Some white GOP 'scared of me'

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Sunday that he has been in rooms with white Republicans who are “scared” of him.

Responding during a interview to TV One’s Roland Martin, who said that “white Republicans have been scared of black folks,” Steele replied: “You’re absolutely right.”

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“I’ve been in the room and they’ve been scared of me,” said Steele, the first African-American RNC chairman. “I’m like, ‘I’m on your side.’”

Asked how Republicans can better reach black voters, Steele said the party needs to focus on “education and the economy” and credited Governors-elect Chris Christie in New Jersey and Bob McDonnell in Virginia for running a message that could appeal to black voters.

“You saw in Christie and you saw in McDonnell a door open because they went in and engaged,” he said. “McDonnell was very deliberate about spending.”

Steele specifically pointed to McDonnell, who secured the endorsement of BET founder Sheila Johnson early in his run and used her as one of his top surrogates on the campaign trail. Both GOP candidates, however, lost the black vote by landslide margins according to exit polls.

“Sheila Johnson was on his team. I mean, that was a big deal,” Steele said. “He engaged her and she helped navigate him through that relationship.”